The isolation of muscle groups is one of the key factors in developing flexibility for athletes. A gymnast working on his or her split daily may never attain a flat square split. This suggests that he or she is not sufficiently working a problem area which usually is the hip flexor group. Because everyone avoids his or her weaker and less flexible side, even seemingly flexible athletes will benefit from isolating the muscle groups that are rarely used.
There are some key points to note with regard to the isolation of muscle groups:
1. Isolation of a muscle allows for the stretching of the complete muscle.
2. Because of compensation, often specific and very important muscles are stretched very little or not at all.
3. Tightness and overtraining make proper positioning during stretching even more difficult especially without the assistance of a coach to physically help with the stretching.
4. Isolation helps to focus the allotted stretching time on each individual's problem area or areas.
5. Lastly and most important, a subtle improvement in the flexibility of specific muscles can result in a dramatic change in the range of motion, performance and comfort of an athlete.
One example of the need for isolated stretching can be found in the oblique muscles which initiate twisting in the torso of the gymnast. The back of the oblique muscles becomes very tight on the side to which the gymnast twists. The front of the oblique remains flexible due to all of the inherent arching in gymnastics.
This imbalance of the oblique muscle can be very detrimental. If one side of the back is shorter than the other, a back injury can readily occur. This problem does not only occur with gymnastics where gymnasts always twist to the same side, but to any sport where there is one sidedness. When one arm is stronger than the other, that part of the back is also stronger which usually means that side is also tighter. In one sided sports, it is especially important to maintain balanced flexibility to avoid injury.
Most athletes who have back injuries also have tight hip flexors. Most gymnasts who have back problems have both tight hip flexors and tight shoulders. The hip flexors are used in tucking and running. Athletes who engage in these activities should stretch the hip flexors after as well as before working out. This would also apply to athletes who tend to overexert his or her back and should muscles.
Stretching the abductors is also important to prevent what many coaches and athletes refer to as a "groin pull." This muscle is typically weak (with the exception to dancers) and rather tight, making it very vulnerable to injury.
Prior art devices and systems have been made to attempt isolation of various muscle groups, however, suffer from providing a trainer system that is easy and safe to operate. One such known device of the inventors provides a hinge for connecting two boards end to end. The hinge tends to pinch the user's legs and/or hands thereby causing injury. In addition, the assembly is placed over foam support bases to allow the boards to pivot about the hinge. These foam support bases inherently create an unstable structure which may result in an additional unsafe condition.